Okay, first, even though I don't know what it's good for at all, I should perhaps mention that I don't own Ranma *sobs*, Akane or the others. They belong to good old Rumiko Takahashi *sighs*. (But in some ways I'm happy not to own Kunou, if you understand what I mean ^_~)
I'm sorry that it took this long but I somehow had a writers block. My brain stopped working (like if it ever did…) and I had some problems with a booooy.
Thanks for all the reviews, I really love reading them! And now, on to the story!
THIRD CHAPTER
Akane opened the door to captain Joe's room nervously. She could feel Mario's breath in her neck. He was also shocked when the voice of the captain ordered both of them to come in.
The heavy door didn't creak, what was very unusual. Normally those doors are creaking loudly to make the scene more exciting, Akane thought.
They entered into a room which was definitively not like what Akane had expected it to be. She expected a dark room, lightened up by a fire. And in front of this fire she expected a man sitting on a huge armchair of leather, showing the two of them his back.
However, this would have been more exciting than what she really saw:
The door belonged to a nice little chamber with a little hammock, an old ugly cupbaord and a not very big desk. A man sat on a stool and looked at the two of them almost friendly. This has to be the captain, Akane thought unimpressed. He seemed pretty boring to her, there was no hint of a dangerous man with wooden leg and a covered eye.
He looked more like a nice houseman who's normally standing in the kitchen with a pinny around his neck.
"Come in, young lady. No reason to be afraid." he said gently and nodded at Mario's direction. "Did he find you?"
"Uhm… yes." Akane lied and looked at Mario. "He told the others that I was your girl-friend so that they –"
"Hmmm, what a good idea. That would be really enjoyable." the captain chuckled briefly. He was a bit odd. "Well, I'm sorry but I have to take you somewhere else than into my bedroom. I think you know it already." He laughed again, this time a little louder.
"Honorable captain, where shall I take the young lady?" He looked at Akane and asked "What's your name again?"
Akane wondered why anybody should be afraid of this boring man. She was sure that she could match him if only Mario would let her.
"My name's Akane." she answered and felt a bit stupid between the sailor and his captain. "Why do you help Cologne to get rid of me? Isn't this a little unfair?" she demanded the captain provoking.
Mario's eyes widened. He stared at the captain as if he expected him to kill Akane at once.
"Oh, the lady is angry?! Who cares? Mario, she'll sleep in your room. You can have her until we arrive."
Than he turned around and added: "Tell the others that they shall come together on the deck, I'll explain where we're about to go. And, Mario, I don't want to see you making money with that girl, is that clear?"
"Of course, honorable ca-"
"Making money with ME?" Akane shouted outraged. "What does that mean, 'you can have her'? No, no, no, I'd rather die than doing something like that!"
"Okay." the captain said cool. "If you want."
He opened a drawer and fished out a tiny gun. "Do you have any last words?" He held the gun in front of her head.
Akane was about to make fun of the captain. She didn't believe that he would shoot her.
However, she started giggling because he had such an serious expression on his face. But when she saw Mario, she stopped at the moment.
Mario was near the tears. He looked frightened from the captain back to Akane and back to that captain.
"B-b-but…sir, you can't, uhm, of course you can, b-but it would be…, I mean, if you –" he stammered.
"Shut up!" the captain said sheerly.
Akane wasn't sure whether she should laugh or not. "You… really wanna shoot me?"she asked unsure. The captain's facial expression stayed unchanged.
"You won't believe how much fun it would be to kill you right now. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to do it." he chuckled softly. Then he put the gun back into the drawer and tourned away.
"You've heard what I said. I wanna see you all on the deck in ten minutes."
"Aye aye, sir!" Mario shouted relieved and overdoing loudly. "Follow me, girl!"
Outside he stared angrily at her. "Are you crazy? Provoking Captain Joe! Oh my god, you must be crazy!"
Akane raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is so special at this man? And from where should I know that he's mad?"
Mario gave her as if she had announced the Third World War. "You didn't know Captain Joe?! He's the world's most famous pirat!"
"Okay, okay, calm down." Akane said. "I'll take your word for it."
Ten minutes later about fifty sailors were standing on the deck of the huge ship. Half of them stared at the Captain's door, the others were shouting at each other and having a good time.
Mario didn't give Akane the littlest chance to escape. He hold her hand tightly. The two of them were standing nervously in front of the door. Mario knocked quietly. A moment later the door opened and the captain stepped out. He grinned seriously and Akane noticed that he was almost always grinning. But she was intelligent enough to know that this was only camouflage. In truth he was a terrible man:
There were fifty strong men and no-one even dared breathing.
It was silent, and it was to see that the captain enjoyed it.
"Men!" he shouted loudly, "The reason why I wanted to see you is that I-"
"OOOOW, are you CRAZY, boy??!!" a little man cried. He appeared jumping with only one leg from behind some barrels. The whole ship stopped breathing at once. Akane could nearly hear how the sailors hearts were beating. Captain Joes eyes became two small lines.
The crying sailor looked around, wondering why everybody was staring at him. The idea that it had to do with the sudden end of his own life didn't come into his mind until it was too late.
"Wh-why are you staring at me?!" he asked unsure. "Is there something at my face?" He grinned embarrassed when he rubbed his chin. Then captain Joe found his voice again.
"Yes, there is indeed something at your face." He took the knife which was in the bag of his leathern trouser and not a second later the sailor was lying flatly on the deck, dead.
Akane shrieked. She shrieked as loud as twenty women would be able to. Afterwards she collapsed. It had been the first time that she saw someone dying. Maybe the others were used to see such things. They didn't even move. But she understood why all the men were afraid of Joe.
He was a horrible murderer.
"Nobody interrupts me! OK?"
The sailors nodded all together.
"Then, the reason why I wanted to talk to you is this shrieking lady. We've to take her to an uninhabited island. It's the will of honorable Cologne."
* * * * *
"Airen tell Shampoo reason why Akane gone?"
Ranma sighed loudly. He was more than slightly annoyed by Shampoos questions and her bad Japanese. Normally he wouldn't mind her bad Japanese, but his nerves were already
on the ground.
"I. Don't. Know. Why. Akane. Is. Gone! OK?"
Shampoo stared at the sky and dragged her feet up the narrow and steep path up the mountain. If she wouldn't, Ranma might have noticed her strange smile. A smile, that could have frozen a whole lake to ice.
"Ranma did pervert things to Akane?" Shampoo asked about five minutes later.
"NO! Shampoo, would you PLEASE shut up now?!"
Ranma started regretting that he told Ryouga to go with Shinnosuke. He'd rather have had a few fights while searching Akane instead of listening to Shampoos stupid waffle.
But Shampoo was the happiest person on earth. In these words of Ranma she saw a little chance. She began to sniffle softly and her eyes filled up with tears.
"Shampoo want not annoy Ranma. Shampoo sorry." She sat down on a small stone and gulped briefly.
"Shampoo will wait until Ranma back."
Ranma looked at her confused. Was this Shampoo? She wouldn't have left out a single chance to be with him.
"Shampoo? Don't cry, it wasn't meant like that." He tried to get out of this embarrassment
in consoling her.
"Come on now. I thought we wanted to search together."
"Ranma is right.", Shampoo smiled again, "Shampoo will help."
She stood up and hugged him tenderly. "Shampoo thank Ranma. Ranma not leave Shampoo alone."
Ranma freed himself quickly but he couldn't help blushing. He had often thought about what it would be like to be Shampoo's. But of course the only one he really loved was Akane. Then he thought of what would happen if Akane…, if she wasn't there anymore.
'No, Akane is alive!', he told himself severely, 'And I will find her!"
* * * * *
Kunou and Ukyou were wandering along a little stream. Humming and singing Ukyou looked at the clouds and tried to make pictures with them.
"Look, there, this cloud looks like a little duck!" she screamed.
Kunou looked up bored. He didn't understand why Ukyou was so happy after all. He had asked her thinks like 'What's the time?' or 'I hope you didn't forget the mobile?', but Ukyou didn't show a hint of interest in him. His proud was already injured a lot.
"So, why do you think we can find Akane while walking along a stream and counting clouds?" he asked provoking. "I think she's at least able to swim in water that is only ten centimeters deep, so you can't tell me that she had perhaps fallen in here."
Ukyou sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Boy! Don't think so much, let the brainwork be my thing. You dunno Akane as good as I do, she's my best friend and I know where to look for her."
In her mind she added something which was better not said in front of him.
'I'm not stupid! I won't bring back Akane. This is my chance to get Ranma!'
Kunou followed her impressed. He believed every word of her. (But we all know that he's not the most intelligent person on earth, don't we?)
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Shinnosuke and Ryouga fought themselves through the dense undergrowth of the forest. Ryouga was slightly bored, he seemed to have nothing else to do than fighting against rebellious knots.
"How shall I find Akane here?! No-one would be stupid enough to escape here with a girl like Akane! She deserves a first class hotel or something!"
Shinnosuke was at the same point of view. The two of them discussed for hours about where they would have hidden Akane.
"I for my part would have bought her everything she asked for." Shinnosuke said with his nose up.
"All shoes, every kind of make-up, a horse and an own sports hall. Whatever she wants, I say."
"And how do you want to pay that?" Ryouga asked unimpressed. "You wouldn't even be able to buy her a cup of coffee, right? Or is there a buried treasure nobody knows about?"
He laughed nastily, well-knowing that Shinnosuke couldn't even afford a single rose as a present for Akane.
"Uhm… I'd have worked for it." Shinnosuke replied embarrassed. They went on in silent, walked far into the forest, until Ryouga could see the first over dimensional ants on the ground. Fascinated he looked at them. They were carrying a beetle as big as frog into their lair.
"Hey, whadd'ya think would happen if I stepped on one of them?" Ryouga asked grinning and his face was a nauseated grimace. He didn't expect any comments of Shinnosuke, because he'd been silent all the time. So he went on talking to himself.
"If we should lose our food and we don't find a way out of the forest - we could simply put an aunt into the fire!"
Thinking that he was very funny, he couldn't help chuckling about his own miserable joke. He turned his face to where he expected Shinnosuke to be and raised his arm to hit him comradely on his shoulder. Unfortunately there was no Shinnosuke to see.
"Hello?" he asked carefully, trying to hide the supremeness in his voice. He didn't want Shinnosuke to hear that he was a little afraid, just in case that he wanted to make fun of Ryouga.
"Boy, if you're trying to frighten me, give it up!" he looked around carefully and tried to sound cool.
"Come out of your escape! It's no use!"
There was no answer and Ryouga couldn't hear anything. "I'm here to look for Akane and not to look for you, OK? I'll go on now!"
'Idiot!' he thought. 'This guy doesn't see how serious the situation is.' He shook his head and went on, pretending that he didn't care about Shinnosuke, but hoping that he'll appear again. It was Shinnosuke's forest, he had been living there for years, and - if Ryouga wanted or not - he needed him to find back again.
* * * * *
Mario had meanwhile a little conversation with Akane.
"That was the third man this week." he commented roughly. His Italian temper was unbelievable, although he didn't show it very often.
"If he keeps on killing every man he wants to, he'll certainly soon stand there alone."
Akane rubbed her eyes. She had been unconscious for hours. It was dark outside already and she sat on Mario's hammock in right in the middle of a room. Mario was not the only one who had to sleep in it. Several other sailors were staring at her greedily, each of them also sitting or lying on a hammock.
The hammocks took all the space, there was hardly any space to move.
"This is not the right place for a young and weak girl like you!"
"Weak girl?! Listen, boy, I'm not weak!" Akane shouted angrily but still shivering. "I've seen many horrible things yet! Guess how often I've seen my own fiancé lying half dead on the ground. It's just that…", her voice got lower now, "I've never seen someone dying."
With these words the terrible pictures of all the blood splashing through the air showed up in her mind again. Tears appeared in her eyes again, and it got even more worse when she thought about Ranma.
"Hey! Pshhsh!" Mario stroke her hairs tenderly and tried to console her. "Everything's fine! I'm here, OK?
Soon she felt asleep, with not a single blanket to cover herself. Mario watched over her until his eyes closed, too. As tired as he was he nearly collapsed on the hard, cold floor. Unfortunately his "bed" was already trimmed with someone else.
***********************************
Puuuuuh, third chapter ready to post!!!
I'm waiting for your reviews, and, I swear, in the next chapter Akane will at last arrive on the island *giggles*
Keep on reading!!!
